Almost a millennium ago, the moon disappeared from the Earth¡¯s night sky for months at a stretch, leaving the planet without its much needed heavenly lamp to illuminate the night¡¯s darkness.?
More than 900 years later, scientists may now have found the reason behind the moon's strange disappearance thanks to an earthly phenomenon.
The answer lies in a recent research conducted by scientists at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. The team of scientists believes that a combination of volcanic ash, sulfur and cold weather led to the Moon¡¯s vanishing act.?
Note that the research titled "Climatic and societal impacts of a ¡°forgotten¡± cluster of volcanic eruptions in 1108-1110 CE," is true to its name. While the invisible moon was the result of the volcanic eruptions, the study (now published in journal Nature) focuses on establishing that such eruptions existed in the first place.? ?
The research is based on data from the NEEM-2011-S1, NGRIP and WDC06A records. As per it, ¡°a sharp inflection upward around mid-1108 CE¡± was observed in the concentration of Sulfur in Earth¡¯s atmosphere. Around mid-1110 CE, these spikes decay, only to rise up again by the end of the year, continuing to the early months of the next year.
There is a crucial new perspective that the new research adds to the topic. While earlier studies assumed that the increase in sulfur was the result of Iceland's Hekla volcano eruption in 1104, the team postulates that the spike instead reflects ¡°the contribution of several closely-spaced volcanic eruptions that occurred between 1108 and 1110 CE.¡± These are believed to be the volcanic eruptions of Japan's Mount Asama around 1108.
To find out this very reason, the team looked into medieval records for descriptions of dark lunar eclipses that could possibly correspond to this event.?
"In particular, the reported brightness of lunar eclipses can be employed both to detect volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere and to quantify stratospheric optical depths following large eruptions," the team mentions in the report.
While the findings still do not qualify as concrete evidence for the postulate, it can be seen that the broken information pieces match. The study thus might have just found out how long forgotten volcanic eruptions resulted in the moon to disappear from the night sky.
Lunar phenomenons are known to turn up as recorded evidence since time immemorial. After all, the one true source of light in the darkness of the night is bound to gain attention. Just like the Supermoon or the ¡°Flower¡± moon in the sky tonight, which is also the last one to appear this year. So make sure that you check it out.
The next lunar phenomenon after this would be a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (partial) which will take place on the night of June 5 to June 6.